All Time College Basketball Wins update: Kentucky Wildcats still have big lead, but Kansas Jayhawks move to second place
By Paul Jordan
#2 – 2010 (7-0)
#3 – 2009 (5-3)
Even with the North Carolina Tarheels 75-73 win over the Kentucky Wildcats, the Heels could not avoid slipping tho third place in the list of the all time winninget programs in college basketball. While Kentucky and North Carolina have taken their early season lumps, the Kansas Jayhawks roll along with a perfect record. You could argue that Kentucky and the Heels have undertaken a slightly more challenging path through November, but a win is a win and so far Kansas has won them all. Lets go back and see how the top three programs fared in November and see what awaits them for the remainder of December.
KENTUCKY (5-2): Kentucky stormed out of the gates with easy wins over teams like East Tennessee State, Portland, and Oklahoma. then Kentucky had a brutal, physical game against washington and the Wildcats topped the Huskies 74-67. UK then ran into the buzzsaw of a team called the Connecticut Huskies and were blown out 84-67 and then rebounded with a blowout win of their own verson Boston University. The Wildcats were right where I expected them to be at 5-1 but yesterday’s loss to the Tar Heels was somewhat of a surprise.
It gets no easier for the Wildcats in December as they take on a pretty good 8-0 Notre Dame team in Louisville on Wednesday night. Then on next Saturday, the Wildcats return to Rupp versus the 7-1 Indiana Hoosiers. Former Cat brings his currently 1-6 Mississippi Valley State team into Rupp for a nice paycheck. Kentucky has a couple more home games on the 22nd and the 28th from Winthrop (4-3) and Coppin State (2-3). Then, it is the game of the year on December 31st as Kentucky travels to Louisville for the second time this month to face Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals (6-0) ver college basketball’s version of the Hatfield and the McCoys.
Not going to lie, but Notre Dame has a pretty good senior frontcourt and could be trouble for Kentucky. But I see Kentucky being ready for them and learning lessons from the UNC game. After that, the Cats have a nice four game stretch of games which should be winnable. I know Indiana is 7-0, but Tom Crean’s Hoosiers have ingested enough cupcakes to induce a diabetic coma. It’s an interesting schedule with four easy games sandwiched between a pair of undefeated (for now) Big East foes. In the end, I see Notre Dame as the only potential loss and since UK just lost to UNC, I don’t see them losing two in a row. Let’s call it a 6-0 month for UK.
KANSAS (7-0): Bill Self and his Jayhawks started the season with wins against five straight cupcakes themselves: Longwood, Valparaiso, North Texas, Texas A&M-CC and the Ohio Bobcats. And then things got interesting. Kansas beat a pretty good Arizona team by 8 points and then thanks to a late controversial foul, the Jayhawks held off a 3-3 UCLA team by one point. Yes, Kansas is undefeated, but they have struggled versus the only two BCS Conference teams they have faced.
Kansas gets a test on Tuesday versus the 7-0 Memphis Tigers. If you recall, Memphis gave the Jayhawks all they wanted last season in a loss. Kansas then gets a couple of home games versus Colorado State and USC before hitting the road against Cal (5-2). Kansas closes out the month with a home date against Texas Arlington. I don’t think this Kansas team is as good as their record indicates, so let’s say they stumble once and finish the month on a 4-1 run.
NORTH CAROLINA (5-3): Before the Kentucky game, it appeared that this season would be another season on the brink for the Tar Heels. They opened the season with easy wins over Lipscomb and Hofstra but suffered upset losses to Minnesota and Vanderbilt. Then came a couple of wins that were closer than expected against UNC- Charlotte and College of Charleston. The Tar Heels suffered their third loss against Illinois before bouncing back to knock off the Wildcats.
The Tar Heels have an interesting scheduling choice as they travel to Evansville to take on the Purple Aces. Then the Tar Heels are home for the holidays and the rest of the year versus Long Beach State, Texas, William and Mary, and Rutgers. Texas should be the only roadblock the rest of the month as the rest of the home games are winnable.
The Tar Heels have a very good chance at finishing the month unbeaten, but I think that Texas may be a bit too much. Let’s say UNC finishes the year 4-1 as well.
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans